Meydan Masters

The past week has gone very well. I’m enjoying my new placement with Dhruba Selvaratnam at Jebel Ali Racecourse. It’s nice being at a barn in the early mornings and watching horses train as the sun comes up. As I thought, Dhruba is a very knowledgeable man and I’ve enjoyed talking with him in the mornings while we watch the horses train. It’s very interesting hearing about the time he spent working for Vincent O’Brien. We’ve also talked a lot about the differences between the ways horses are trained in America versus Europe. The staff are all very nice as well and seem to enjoy their work, which makes it that much more fun to be there. It’s very strange being at a racetrack and only seeing about 50 horses go up the track. I’m so used to the hustle and bustle of the American racetracks where there are horses everywhere and a lot of commotion. It’s very peaceful and relaxed at Jebel Ali and the horses seem to enjoy it.

Racing this week has been good too. We’ve finished our work rotations at Meydan so from here on out we’ll just be spectators again. There was racing on both Thursday and Friday night this week. I spent Thursday night learning from the placing judges and from the clerk of scales. On Friday night I spent time with the paddock judge. The main event for the two days of racing at Meydan was the Meydan Masters international jockey challenge. Some of the top jockeys from around the world were invited to compete in the three race event and it added a lot of excitement to the races to see these top jockeys compete against each other. Some of the jockeys on hand included Ryan Moore, Johnny Murtagh, Maxime Guyon, Gerald Mosse, Richard Hills, and last but not least Calvin Borel. The collection of these jockeys represented the winners of almost all the major international races in the world. In the end, in his first time riding in Dubai, Calvin Borel won the Masters. He is such a model for our industry in America with his politeness and work ethic. It was great to see him win the challenge.

I’m looking forward to seeing the results of the upcoming racing this weekend in America. There are some very good stakes races all over the country but I’m particularly looking forward to seeing the results of the two Kentucky Derby preps. This is my favorite time of year seeing these young horses improve along the Derby trail. It already looks like it could be a great group of three-year-olds and could make for a very exciting Kentucky Derby.